The Millennial Internet Is Dead, and Politicians Killed It.
Social media use is declining, and what's left has shifted from conversation to passive scrolling.
It's 2019, and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D–N.Y.) is in a video. It shows her dancing on a rooftop with friends. Everyone on Twitter has an opinion about it, after an anonymous account suggested in a widely circulated post that it showed what a "clueless nitwit" she was. AOC is just starting her first term in Congress, Twitter is a hotbed of histrionics, and this video may actually be a secret time capsule, harkening back to the carefree early days of social media and the Millennial Internet.
As the video went around, few people stopped to ask why AOC was dancing on this rooftop. But I knew as soon as I saw it. She was copying my friends.
In March 2009, someone took old clips of Brat Pack actors dancing, set them to a song by the art-punk band Phoenix called "Lisztomania," and posted the video on the then-4-year-old platform YouTube. A group of friends in Brooklyn, my friends, decided to recreate the viral video on a graffiti-adorned Williamsburg waterfront rooftop, dancing the parts of Molly Ringwald and associated brats themselves and posting it with the title "brooklyn brat pack mashup." … [Subscribe to continue reading]
Read the full story when when you subscribe to Reason Plus.
Free minds and free markets: Independent journalism on politics, culture, and ideas since 1968.
Become a subscriber
Digital access for $25/year
Unlimited online access & the magazine
- Every article, every issue, every archive going back to 1968
- The print or digital edition delivered monthly
- Subscribers-only newsletter from the editor
- Listen to every article with our audio player
Cancel anytime. Or give a Reason Plus subscription as a gift..
Already have an account?
Log in to keep reading.
Log In
Enter the code from your authenticator app to finish logging in.
You're already a member. Log in to keep reading.
We sent this story to your inbox because you're one of our subscribers. One quick login and you'll be reading in seconds.
- Your subscription includes digital access
- Log in once and stay logged in for 1 year
- Resume reading exactly where the email left off
